NORTH BEND, Wash. - Murder suspect Peter Keller was found dead Saturday inside a well-stocked bunker in the woods near North Bend. The bunker was about four miles from the western trailhead at Rattlesnake Mountain.
"It's nowhere near any trail, nobody would have every stumbled on it was in a thickly wooded area,” said Deputy Peter Linde, King County Sheriff's Office.
It's a spot so remote, members of the sheriff's department had to be airlifted in and out, lowered up and down into the densely wooded area.
Investigators say Keller spent years constructing the bunker and covering up his tracks.
"It was very well camouflaged someone who didn't know what they were looking for probably wouldn't know what it was. Our guys knew what they were looking for and even then it was difficult,” said Linde.
The operation took a toll on the officers who worked it. One SWAT member broke an ankle, and others suffered from dehydration..
"The way down that they had to go down the terrain was very steep nobody in their right mind would hike there,” said Linde.
A look inside the bunker is perhaps even more surprising. It was loaded with supplies – ammunition, guns and food. The construction was also impressive.
"He had a generator up there, carried up concrete, a lot of trips, cut all his own wood, he didn't haul the timbers but he cut his own wood,” said Linde.
Linde said it's fortunate that Keller didn't shoot more people.
"He was certainly capable of it," he said.
The King County Sheriff's Department cleared all evidence out of the bunker. On Sunday, those who came out to the area for hike couldn't help but be curious.
“I've been coming up here for years and I'm not aware of any way to get into that side of the mountain,” said Doug Hobkirk.
Seasoned outdoorsman Dave Workman would like to learn more about how Keller built the bunker and why. Still, he said many in the community are just relieved this is all over.
“It's a relief to the people in North Bend because nobody knew where this guy was,” he said. “A lot of people live not very far down the hill from where this bunker is located.”
The King County Sheriff's Office is discouraging people from trying to find the bunker on their own.
